Telstra sells AirWatch mobile device management

Responding to the growing workplace trend of bring your own device (BYOD), Telstra announced it will sell white-labelled mobile device management (MDM) software by AirWatch under its name.

Responding to the growing workplace trend of bring your own device (BYOD), Telstra announced it will sell white-labelled mobile device management (MDM) software by AirWatch under its name.

Customers can save money by bundling Telstra service with the MDM compared to dealing with Telstra and AirWatch separately, according to Rob Roe, AirWatch managing director for Australia and New Zealand.

The MDM platform will be included at no extra cost with certain business mobile plans. A monthly charge of $5 per user will apply to devices that are Wi-Fi only or on other plans, including plans from other telcos.

Telstra owns the mobile network to its white-label service over AirWatch, giving Telstra the ability to do things like turn off a device when the MDM platform detects it has gone roaming, Roe told Computerworld Australia. It also consolidates support for mobile service and MDM in one place, he said.

Telstra will provide first and second-level support for customers using the white-label MDM, and AirWatch will support Telstra, Roe said.

Telstra began selling the MDM service to a limited number of customers in December last year, Roe said. Telstra already has 100 customers using the platform, ahead of AirWatch's targets, he said.

"We're now implementing for a couple of very large Australian brands."

One existing AirWatch customer, Eastern Tree Service, has migrated to the Telstra white-label MDM, Roe said. The company, which cuts trees around power lines, has used MDM to deploy three apps onto employee iPads, he said.

Roe wouldn't identify other customers by name.

"We're seeing a lot of excitement from the [Telstra] sales reps," Roe said. "We've automated the back end so we're able to stand up a customer overnight."